Address: Kreutzwaldi 6, Tartu Open Google map
Entrance fee: 8 € or 10 € / person
Tours: Guided tours by appointments
Themes: Aalto homes
Website: https://www.villatammekann.fi/
Opening hours
Situated in Tartu, the Granö Centre of the universities of Turku and Tartu was opened in April 2000.
The Granö Centre is located in a house designed by Alvar Aalto in 1932 as the residence of Professor August Tammekann and his family. The Turku University Foundation purchased the building from the children of the family in 1998 and the Villa Tammekann was repaired following Alvar Aalto’s original designs as closely as possible. In 2001, The Turku University Foundation was awarded the prestigious EuropaNostra -medal.
The centre has been named after J. G. Granö, former rector of the University of Turku and professor of geography of the University of Tartu. J. G. Granö was one of six Finnish professors invited to Tartu in the early 1920’s and he contributed greatly to further Finnish-Estonian university cooperation, founding, for example, the Finnish-Estonian school of geographical thought. His son, Fellow of the Academy of Finland, Olavi Granö was the initiator for establishing the cooperative centre for the universities of Turku and Tartu.
The Granö-center operates today mainly as a residence for researchers. The stay for the individual scholars at Villa Tammekann lasts from 1-2 weeks up 12 months. The cosy athmosphere and good architecture creates new ideas and good motivation!
In 2012, Villa Tammekann was accepted onto the Iconic Houses -website, the international network connecting architecturally significant houses from the 20th century.
Villa Tammekann belongs to The Alvar Aalto Route – 20th Century Architecture and Design, as the only site in Estonia.
Information for visitors
Good to know
Arriving to Tartu
Tartu is situated 185 km to the south from Tallinn. By car, the journey takes about 2 hours and 15 minutes. Public transport – bus and train – are functional and affordable.
Villa Tammekann is located about one kilometer from the historic center of Tartu on the edge of Tähtvere Park.
Guided tours
Further information
Guided tours
The duration of the guided tour is approximately 30 minutes. Groups can have a guided tour tailored to their interests. Normally the tour topics are the architecture, the history and the current use of the house.
Guided tours at the Villa Tammekann should be booked in advance. Tourist groups should make the reservation well in advance. Villa Tammekann operates as a research residence. During the tours there may be a limited access to see all the accommodation facilities. To keep the cozy atmosphere and to take care of the interior we expect to use covers on shoes (available at site).
For groups of 10-19 people, the entrance fee is 10 € per person. The tour can be done on your own (good to read the material in advance) or with the Guide. For this size of groups there is an extra guide fee 50 €.
For groups 20 or more the price is 8 € per person, including guide. The guided tours are either in Finnish or in English.
During the tourist season in 2021 there are guided tours available for smaller groups and individual clients on limited Saturday afternoons at 14.-15. The dates are as follows: 9.7., 30.7., 7.8, 14.8., 28.8 and 4.9. Advance booking and payment needed e-turist@e-turist.ee
Good to know:
- Visits only by appointment
- Groups less than 20 persons: information available, no guidance
- Due to scholar presence, the access to some rooms may be limited
- Cover shoes needed, available at site
- No parking on site